Since I posted on Friday, things went from Fine to Not Fine. "Kaflooey," is my mom's technical term for it. My dad's lung collapsed, his blood sugar went through the roof, he developed an arrhythmia and most likely pneumonia. He's had his lung drained of fluid and several panic attacks because he simply can't breathe. He's been on and off oxygen treatments for days, constantly dancing around the edge of ventilator territory -- improving a little but not quite enough, remaining solidly in the high-level cardiac care unit, which we keep telling him is actually a million-dollar spa getaway when the nurse comes to thump away on his back. I'm sure his insurance company would find us HYSTERICAL.

On the other end of the whining spectrum, I woke up on Sunday with another cold. Meaning I could do nothing more for my dad than miserably wave at him from the doorway while covering my mouth and nose, and could do nothing more for my mom than drape myself over the chairs in the waiting room and pretend that I was still awake. My body just plumb gave out, so I came home.

And yet I will be dragging my feverish ass out of bed this afternoon to take Noah to a speech evaluation -- a private one, which I suppose our insurance may also find rather amusing. Also, I think I will bet myself 10 bucks that I can get him to say "kaflooey" to the speech therapist. It's good to have goals, people.

Oh Amy, I'm so sorry to hear that things went kaflooey. I'm rooting for your dad to pull through this. And it's worse for you when you're sick too and you can't see him. I've been there: my brother had a stem-cell transplant last year and I had a cold and couldn't visit him at all. Here's hoping everyone gets better ASAP.

Oh Amy, I am sorry to hear about your dad. I really pray that things begin to improve for him. And what a lame time for a cold, I guess our bodies can only handle so much till they start to break down.

Good luck at the speech evaluation. I will be thinking of your whole family today.

So sorry to hear that kaflooey happened, but the ICCU is a good place to be if ya gotta be somewhere sick. Hope to hear better news soon, and also hope that you get some positive answers this afternoon with Noah. Stock up on Clementines! (The vitamin C load keeps the colds at bay)

Unasked for advice:
In case oxygen masks drop down, put your mask on first, then help your kid(s.) In case of overworked, exhausted, and emotionally drained Mom, hire a sitter so you can have a three hour nap, then you can help your family. Poor Amy!!

I'm so sorry that your dear father is going through such a health challenge. I'm really close to my father and I cannot imagine the roller-coaster you have been on. I read everyday but don't often comment, so I just wanted to say --we are thinking of you--
I do suppose it's better to have him say "kaflooey" to the speech evaluator rather than AHEM! "bucket".... or whatever that sounded like.
Good Luck to you guys, take care of yourself. :)

I was so nervous on Friday, does that make sense, to be nervous and sick while grocery shopping because all I could think of was a photo of a man I'd never met, and hope he was okay? When I finally saw the good news, I was limp with relief.
Now I am nervous again. I know what this is like, unfortunately, all this not-breaks-having. But I remain among the many strangers pulling for your dad, praying for him, and for your family.

Oh no. It must be so hard to be home, but clearly it's worse than useless for you to be at the hospital. You're doing what you can and it does sound like your dad has a great team pulling for him. Here's sending you some of my breaks.

So sorry to hear about your dad. Poor you to be sick on top of everything else. Good luck with the speech eval. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I'm local (can't type that without thinking of 'The League of Gentlemen') so give me a holler if I can be of assistance!

When my dad had open heart surgery (3 bypass) they told us he would be in ICU for 2 days then go to a regular room for 3 days then home. He was in ICU for over 2 weeks. I think he had every complication they warned us about. YIKES! I finally asked him if he had thing for the nurse (joking of course) because that had to be why he was taking his sweet time getting out of ICU. He finally when to the regular room for over a week and when he got home, he had to be taken back to the ER and/or the doctor just about everyday. It took him over 6 months to get straight, but when he finally did, he was better than ever. Have hope, your dad will get there, it'll just take time.

Wow, that is a lot to deal with. I am beaming positive karma your way, for your entire family. I hope your dad starts conquering some of his battles, and I hope you start feeling better, too. And I hope Noah's speech evaluation goes well - whatever that means. And I hope that your insurance company doesn't laugh at any of it!

Amy, I haven't commented before, but I just wanted to tell you to hang in there, and let you know that my mom had sextuple(!!!) bypass in the fall after a mild heart attack, and I know what you're going through.

She seemed fine for a couple days, then there was fluid in the lung, and they drained that, then more, then a collapsed lung, etc. It was incredibly scary, especially since nobody seemed really clear on what was happening or why. She's now 6.5 months post surgery and doing really really well -- still not as energetic as she'd like, but so much better than before! (I hadn't realized how pale she'd been; her color is so much better! And she can *do* things again!) It was a long road, and it's still ongoing with exercise etc, but it's turning out well.

I don't know if anyone's explained stuff to you; a close family friend of ours is a PhD in nursing and has worked cardiac care. She explained a lot about why the fluid may be there, etc, and it's all quite normal. (Not the usual thing, but not crazy abnormal either.) They don't really know why it happens sometimes and not others, but it almost always resolves itself.

So, to sum up: I know it's scary. I'm praying that your Dad will do as well as my Mom (or better). And I hope hearing about other folks with similar experiences will help.

Oh, lordy. Yah jes' can't win.
Remember to take care of yourself, as much as possible. It will be extra hard to ride the laps with an empty gas tank, so fill your gas tank, with whatever it takes. (Preferably not wine. Think: massages and movies that let you cry.)

Open heart surgery pretty much kicks a body's ass. Many of the effects are "normal." I'm not just blowing sunshine and rainbows up your ass....my husband had many little setbacks, yet....15 months to the day after his surgery he ran a marathon. Yes, really. Keep thinking good thoughts and I'll keep vibing for you from here. I hope if all works out as well for you as it did here.

I leave this week to see my dad through his lung cancer surgery on Thursday. Aaaaannnnndddd, I too woke up with a cold yesterday. WTF? I have a feeling I will be a masked face waving from the hallway as well.

I will continue to hold you and your family and your father in my heart. And good luck with the speech eval! Give them kaflooey, Noah!!

De-lurking to say hang in there! Same thing happened to my Dad, was supposed to get out of there a few days after his bypass. The day he was supposed to leave the hospital, his suture broke and he had this major bleeding, and ended up staying longer. But that was a year ago and now he is doing great! Lots of hugs to you!

I've never posted before, but I wanted to let you know that as JDR's dad, mine went in for an appendix and ended up in the ICU for whacko blood sugar and oxygen problems.
He ALSO got pneumonia. The man was healthy as a horse...with blood sugar problems, but the surgery put everything out of whack.
He is now so healthy he just got engaged at age 76 which really squicks me out to consider....ooooo.
Anyways- the moral of this is- dads scare the crap out of us in the hospital to get even for all the nights we were out late and they imagined the worst.

I'm de-lurking to send many prayers and complete stranger cyberhugs. I won't be trite and say all those trite things that are well meant but completely useless. Just know that there are many prayers & well wishes for your family.

Oh, honey. Hang on in there. Hope, prayers, fingers crossed and anything that'll help. You'll get through this, all of it.
Remember we love you, even though we're only weird Internetty people who've never met you... but you just have that effect, so there.
Love from the badger xxx

In october my mother too had the bypass and then every complication you can think of including her kidneys wanting to get in on the fun stop working for awhile. Instead of the 2 days in CCICU we were told she was there 5 weeks.
But here we are now in January and she is already so much better then BEFORE the surgery.
It sucks, it's exhausting, it's draining, but you will get through the tough times.